Gay Character Prompts Russia to Consider Ban of Disney’s New “Beauty and the Beast”

Russian officials are coming under pressure to check if Disney’s new film Beauty and the Beast breaches the country’s law against “gay propaganda”.

One MP described it as “shameless propaganda of sin” and Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said action would be taken after the checks.

The live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast features Disney’s first ever gay character and love scene.

A Russian law prohibits the spreading of “gay propaganda” among minors.

The 2013 legislation, which angered human rights activists and the international gay community, suggests that homosexuality – described as “non-traditional sexual relations” – is alien to life in Russia.

It involves LeFou, who is a sidekick of the film’s main antagonist Gaston.

LeFou, played by US actor Josh Gad, tries to come to terms with feelings for Gaston that swing between lust and admiration, as a side-plot to the main story.

The movie is due to be released in Russia on 16 March.

But Vitaly Milonov, an MP of the governing United Russia party, urged the culture minister to hold a screening of the film before it is released to see if it complies with the law and to “take measures to totally ban” it if he found “elements of propaganda of homosexuality”.

His colleague Alexander Sholokhov said that if the scenes violated the law, the film should be banned from cinemas.

“As soon as we get a copy of the film with relevant paperwork for distribution, we will consider it according to the law,” Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said.